Rule Systems Theory: Applications and Explorations

Explaining the complexity of social life remains the central challenge of the social sciences. This book offers a variety of theoretical-empirical explorations and applications inspired by an important neo-institutional approach to tackling this complexity – the rule systems theory. Its point of departure is the assumption that institutions and cultural formations possess causal powers and relative autonomy, constraining and enabling people’s social actions and interactions. Structural and cultural properties of society are carried by, transmitted, and reformed by human agents whose interactions generate, reproduce, elaborate and transform structures. The contributors are highly accomplished economists, sociologists and political scientists who come from the US and several European countries. The book is meant as a Festschrift for Tom Burns, a central figure in the development of the rule systems theory.

The Editors: Helena Flam is Professor of Sociology at the University of Leipzig. Her most recent works deal with institutional discrimination and the sociology of emotions.
Marcus Carson is a researcher and senior lecturer at Stockholm University’s Department of Sociology. His research explores the role of ideas, institutions, and organized actors in policy making.